ELP Digest Monday, 28 Sep 1992 Volume 2 : Issue 20 The "Cold Meat Pie" Edition Today's Topics: INFO NEEDED: Affairs Of The Heart Seedy Single Affairs of the Heart Hello again Questions Which ELP & related on CD Rumor: possible ELP show in Boston this fall... SPOILERS follow Northern California ELP concerts Concord Pavilion show ELP - Concord Pavillion ELP Road Trip Digest, mailing address, and administrative stuff to: J.Arnold@bull.com\ = for now, these are the same ELP-related info that you / want to put in the digest to: J.Arnold@bull.com Note: The opinions, information, etc. contained in this digest are those of the original message sender listed in each message below. They are not necessarily those of the mailing list/digest administrator or those of any institution through whose computers/networks this mail flows. ------------------------------------------------------------ Subject: INFO NEEDED: Affairs Of The Heart Seedy Single From: wcsanil@ccs.carleton.ca (Anil Prasad) Date: Thu, 3 Sep 92 19:53:59 EDT Just found out that there will be or already is an "Affairs Of The Heart" UK CD single!! Anyone know what's on this puppy? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anil Prasad | "For NASA, space is still a high priority." ---------------------------| wcsanil@ccs.carleton.ca | wcsanil@alfred.carleton.ca | -- J. Danforth Quayle, 09/05/90 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [ Editor's note: I'm sure that other readers and myself would also be interested in knowing where one might find this item. If it's hard to get here in the US and any readers (in the UK or with connections to the UK) have a way to order some copies, I'd be glad to arrange to collect orders and handle the details for getting currency converted, mailing, etc. Just let us know! - John - ] ------------------------------ Subject: Affairs of the Heart Date: Tue, 08 Sep 92 17:05:00 -0400 From: arnold It was interesting to note that, by the end of US leg of the tour, "Affairs of the Heart" had been dropped from the set list. I am wondering if this means that ELP is giving up on this making any sort of progress in terms of radio play. "Affairs" got decent play here in Boston and was well received (and well-executed) in the 2 shows I saw. Does anyone have any more information to add? I'm still looking for a copy of the cassette single (or CD single) and would love to know if it has indeed ever been released. Or was it just shipped to radio stations in hope of some airplay? - John - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 17:48:06 DST From: "A prisoner held against his will by a computer!" Subject: Hello again It's been so long... I haven't received a post since last May, and so much has happened! I missed hearing all the reactions to the new albums and tour, so redundant as it may be, I'll say that the new CD is great and the show blew me away. I live in Pittsburgh where ELP is completely ignored (no airplay for the new album and no tour stops anywhere in Western PA), so myself and 3 friends saw them in Cleveland. We followed two other guys from Pgh. to the show but had different seats. Wouldn't you know, those two guys got backstage passes, Carl's drum sticks, Greg's harmonica, pictures, and autographs! Why? Because one of them has the Tarkus cover tatooed on his arm. Keith was so impressed, that he had pictures taken of the tatoo and plans to put them up in the tour bus. He also told those guys that they can have free front row seats and backstage passes for any upcomming show on this tour or any future one! And we were supposed to meet those guys after the show, but no: we decided to beat the traffic! Also: Could someone with a current list send me the addresses for the Marillion and Genesis nets. +-------------+---------------------------------+-----------------------+ | K Y | Waiting on the Rain | | | a ELP | For I was born with a habit | Chris Dixon | | Genesis | From a sign | | | s | The habit of a windswept thumb | stu891695@gcc.edu | | Marillion | And the sign of the rain | | | s | -Marillion | | +-------------+---------------------------------+-----------------------+ ------------------------------ From: Jeremy Weissenburger <07822@brahms.udel.edu> To: j.arnold@bull.com Subject: Questions I have two quick ones: 1) Please please please please PLEASE tell me someone taped the ELP concert broadcast on WNEW 102.7 FM on Thursday, Sept. 3!! Whoever has, I'd like to get a copy, so PLEASE contact me!! 2) I was looking in Roger Daltrey (of the Who (for those of you living in a cage)) his album "Under A Raging Moon". To my surprise, Carl Palmer played on the album! He's on the title track (you know, the one with the KILLER drum solo). Well, it turns out there are 5 or 6 drummers who played 15-20 seconds, then they cut to the next one. Also on the solo is Roger Taylor (of Queen fame) and Cozy Powell!! Also, on the album, there's a credit of backing vocals for John Payne. I wonder if this the same Payne in the new Asia lineup. Does any- one know?? Thanks, Jeremy "Everybody's got to deviate from the norm." Rush, 1981 ------------------------------ Subject: Which ELP & related on CD Date: Mon, 14 Sep 92 11:07:24 MDT From: Randy J Ray I am by far not a new ELP fan, but I am only just now gainfully employed enough to make a concentrated assault on filling out my collection of ELP & related material. I have never had a complete discography of the band and it's members, so I am in need of something resembling that, that also specifies which albums are not available on CD, and which are rare or imports, so that I can put priorities on things (after all, if I know it's rare and I happen across it on a business trip, I can always spend my per diem on it and eat at McDonald's instead :-) ). Randy -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Randy J. Ray -- U S WEST IT/CSD rray@lookout.it.uswc.uswest.com I'd rather talk religion with Charles Manson than discuss ethics with Congress. -me Phone: (303)595-2852 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ------------------------------ Subject: Rumor: possible ELP show in Boston this fall... Date: Mon, 28 Sep 92 09:41:26 -0400 From: arnold Hi! A number of people have brought to my attention an article about the fall concert `scene' in Boston that appeared in the Sunday Boston Globe a few weeks ago (Sept. 14). It mentioned that there was a definite possibility that ELP would be back to play at the Orpheum later this fall. Thanks to the people who sent mail or called to let me know about this. Details will be sent to the ELP list if/when they are available. - John - ------------------------------ SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS Date: Thu, 3 Sep 92 15:50:36 pdt From: Jim Smith Subject: Northern California ELP concerts I just saw ELP at the Cal Expo in Sacramento on September first, and then at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, California last night, September second. Here are some thoughts I had about the concerts: First of all, last night's show was truly astounding! I've seen ELP and ELPowell and Three a total of something like a dozen times, and overall, last night's may have been the best concert I've seen. Although the Cal Expo show was good, the Concord show was better, with a larger crowd, better sound, and better energy from the crowd. Contrary to previous reports, I didn't think Bonham sucked. But I didn't think they were exceptional, either. There were definite problems in their mix, too. The lower midrange was all mushed together. They did 6 or 7 numbers. There were no lasers, but the gothic pillars were there, and lots of Varilites, fog, and strobes. Some additional notes about Keith's setup: To his right was a master keyboard which I didn't recognize, atop a chopped "Goff" C3 atop a chrome two-legged pedestal, similar to what he used on the ELPowell tour. Behind him was the Modular Moog. He never played its keyboard. To his left, on the bottom was the Yamaha MIDI grand, and above that was the same type of unknown keyboard as on top of the C3, and on top of that was what looked to me like a Yamaha KX-88. Off to the side (sort of offstage), were a remote keyboard stack, two racks, and a mixer, nursed by Keith's keyboard tech. The stack was two Roland JD-800's and a Hammond/Suzuki BX-2 organ. Oh, and there was a Macintosh, with this weird "worms" screen saver running on it. Before ELP started, an orchestral piece which I didn't recognize was played, followed by Resphighi's "The Birds." I wonder what that other piece was. It was quite flashy. Picked by Keith, no doubt. Judging by the writing and themes, I suspect it was one of the other well-known Resphighi pieces. We stood about three people back from the front of the stage in front of Lake for the duration of the Sacramento concert. Lake made good eye contact, and all three guys seemed to be enjoying themselves. For the Concord concert, we were just Keithward (:->) of dead center, about 30 rows back. This was actually a very good seat. KARN EVIL 9, FIRST IMPRESSION, PART 2 Lake's voice was the raspiest during this piece. TARKUS I actually think that I liked ELPowell's arrangement of Tarkus better, but it was interesting to see what new little additions Keith has made this time around. Having the REAL ELP together is certainly neat, too. Although Keith's playing was a bit sloppy at times, it was, overall, no more sloppy than, say, in the 1968 performance of The Nice that I have on videotape, or any other time since. Lake, on the other hand, rather than playing some of the more difficult ostinato parts in Tarkus, just pedal-pointed eighth notes on his bass and left the driving to Keith! Overall, I really think the band kicked. KNIFE EDGE I thought they did a nice job of creating a segue into this piece from Tarkus. I also thought that, overall, the choices made in synth sounds was really outstanding. Sure, they're essentially standard analogish synth sounds for the most part, but they were used quite tastefully. I think that Emerson made the right choice to somewhat limit his tonal palette with ELP. PAPER BLOOD The reason Palmer was wearing headphones was that there was a backup vocals track on the chorus, so he must have been playing to a click. He also wore phones during Lucky Man. I don't know why. BLACK MOON Paper Blood, Romeo and Juliet, and Black Moon had more impact live than recorded. BOOM BOOM BAP!! CREOLE DANCE CLOSE TO HOME Both of these pieces were played well, with additional flourishes. They also both used the same sound, the piano plus strings plus something that sounded like a bright FM electric piano. Something was buzzing and distorting, I couldn't tell if it was the piano or the synths, at the Sacramento concert. At Concord, it all sounded very good. Emerson varied his performance of Creole Dance slightly each night, adding a different bit to the improvised parts. FROM THE BEGINNING STILL... YOU TURN ME ON It was kind of heartwarming to hear the crowd sing along on Lake's old ballads. They didn't do Affairs of the Heart at these concerts. Lake played solo on both of these pieces. ROMEO AND JULIET Although I considered it to be pretty simple on "Black Moon," this piece really rocked live! I thoroughly enjoyed it! LUCKY MAN Another great singalong. The synth lead was fairly awesome, not in little part due to Keith's use of that VERY low pedal point! When no hands were on the keyboard, the synth was playing a very low note. I liked the use of strings under the second verse. PIRATES What can I say? Awesome. My favorite piece in the concert. Interesting to note that, since most MIDI synths don't have LFOs with real-time modulation of frequency, it appeared as if Keith used some outboard processing to simulate the Yamaha GX-1's variable-rate LFO modulation of the filter. He controlled the rate from a pedal. It was also interesting to see him playing the C3 and having NO organ sound come out at all. Some VERY nice timbres were used in this piece. I liked the use of the lead guitar/harmonics sound during the most difficult lead in the piece. PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION I really enjoyed the way Emerson and Palmer tried to "trick" each other during The Gnome. During the Sacramento show at the California State Fair, it was a pretty neat coincidence that fireworks went off behind the stage during the climax of "The Great Gates Of Kiev." FANFARE FOR THE COMMON MAN/AMERICA/RONDO What fun! When they came back out for the encore, Emerson had changed into his "Sunburst" leather jacket and an ELP baseball cap (with ELP pins all around its rim), which he wore backwards, in sort of a geeky "bad boy" look. Palmer had changed into an ELP T-shirt. (Lake hadn't changed.) When the keyboard stage turned around, the thing that struck me the most was the "wall" behind the L100 and Marshall amp: It was covered with artificial brick, with the _ _ (-|_) |_ logo crudely spraypainted on it in white paint, in the manner of graffiti, a'la West Side Story. With Keith in his goofy backward cap and jacket, and that little set piece, the mood was set as quite light and fun! Unfortunately, there was some problem with the organ, and Keith cut the shenanigans quite short, not even drawing a knife at the Sacramento show. At the Concord show, he had to mess around with an effects box under his Marshall amp a bit, but he did the full bit. At the Sacramento show, as the set rotated back around, the organ was caught between the drum pedestal and the set's wall, and the keyboard tech had to drag it out of there. All in all, I think the boys earned their money, and it's amazing to me that they can do this night after night. It was another great pair of shows, as I've come to expect from Emerson, Lake and Palmer. The merchandise booth had flyers for mailorder ELP merchandise, plus a $12 subscription to an ELP information service. They were also selling tambourines (cheap, crummy tambourines, but with the ELP logo and "Black Moon" printed on them in black) personally autographed by E, L, and P for $30. I purchased a chrome ELP-logo pin for $8, and an ELP decal for $3. Regards, - Jim smithj@hpsad.sad.hp.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 3 Sep 92 21:01:25 -0700 From: Derek Kueter Subject: asdf Thanks for the digest. I saw ELP last nite at Concord, CA. The crowd was totally into it. Emerson had a huge modular rig, in addition to his new stuff. Bass sounded great from afar. Drums were mostly electronic, I think, and kind of bogus-sounding. I don't care, theyre still the best. -derek ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Sep 92 20:08:19 -0400 From: eckman@eos1.larc.nasa.gov (Richard Eckman) Subject: ELP - Concord Pavillion I saw ELP at the Concord Pavillion near San Francisco on 9/2. It was one of the more bizarre things that I've ever done as I live in Virginia and had already seen them in Columbia, MD back in July. My brother, who got me interested in ELP back in '71, lives near SF and had never seen them in concert. So, I decided to fly out the day before, see the concert with my brother, and fly back the next day. At least the airline tickets were very cheap! The concert was tremendous - considerably better than their performance in Columbia. It was clear that they were all having a lot more fun in Concord. Keith, in particular, was in top form. During 'Pictures', he was even faking out Carl on timing during some of the weird passages near the beginning of the piece. At one point, he succeeded and Carl ended up drumming with no keyboard accompaniment! The only change in the set, compared with Columbia, was the replacement of 'Affairs of the Heart' with a solo version of 'Still, You Turn Me On'. While driving to the concert, one of the local radio stations interviewed all three of them backstage. Emerson, who was more inarticulate than usual, did say a couple of interesting things. Among them was that they expect to start a new album early next year. Following that, the plan is to probably continuing touring. He also said that he expects a live album sometime in the future. Whether it's from stuff already recorded during the north American leg of the tour or not was not clear. One bummer experience of the evening...I was with a group of four other people at the concert (my brother, his wife, and a couple of their friends). One of the friends, who is even more of an ELP fan than I am, went off to the restrooms during 'Pictures'. When she returned, she was sporting a backstage pass on her jacket. It turns out that some guy came up to her and asked if she would be interested in meeting the group after the show. She, of course, said yes, and he gave her a pass and said that, yes, it was real! It did indeed turn out to be real and she did meet the guys after the show. She was in a small group of people in some room to the side of the stage with wine/cheese. She said that all three of them were very nice, although Keith apparently wanted to get out. She spoke a couple of moments with Carl, who she said was very friendly. Oh well, life just isn't fair! I would have loved to have met them although I probably wouldn't have had the nerve to say a thing! Richard Eckman NASA Langley eckman@dobson.larc.nasa.gov ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Sep 92 09:41:03 PDT From: Mark.McCarron-Fraser@Corp.Sun.COM (Mark McCarron-Fraser) Subject: ELP Road Trip ELP Comrades! - On the road with: EMERSON, LAKE, & PALMER Universal Amphitheater August 28, 1992 Bren Event Center, UC Irvine August 29, 1992 CalExpo Amphitheater September 1, 1992 Concord Pavillion September 2, 1992 I sometimes think of ELP as a jazz trio that sound like a rock band. The set here on the West Coast was a little different from what some folks said they played back east. Karn Evil 9, 1st Imp. Pt. 2 (edited) Tarkus (Eruption, Stones of Years, Iconoclast) segue to Knife Edge Paper Blood Black Moon Close to Home (Emerson solo) Creole Dance (Emerson solo) From the Beginning Still. . . You Turn Me On Lucky Man (as a 3 piece) Romeo & Juliette Pirates Pictures at an Exhibition encore Fanfare for the Common Man/Rondo/Organ F***ing All four shows that I saw were very good. They never played any song the same way twice. They improvised A LOT!! Different solos, on different keyboards, drums, or guitars, in different places. It was an amazing display of musicianship to see the songs' metamorphasis from night to night. The Concord show was the best. Not just the best ELP show I saw this tour, but one of the three best shows I have ever seen. (The other two are: ELP 8/4/77 @ The Cow Palace, and Mike Oldfield 4/82 @ The Warfield.) The opening of the show was as cool as ever. I got really excited for Tarkus/Knife Edge. (BTW, they did the long organ rise to the obligato figure to start Tarkus. You might have missed this at your show if the crowd was loud.) In Stones, Keith took a different and longer synth solo before going to the organ - which he shortened. Greg's voice was very good - which it hadn't been the night before. At previous shows Keith had introduced Paper Blood, calling Greg "Muddy Lake", or "Bobby -something- ". At Concord, Greg introduced Paper Blood. It was very hot! By far the best rendition I've heard so far. (Oh yeah, Keith's equipment manager says they will difinitely be back in January!) Then they played Black Moon. This had been a good song previously. At Concord it was a show stopper. Lake added several bass runs, at one point virtually taking the lead on the bass. Palmer threw in a little counter rhythm. The crowd gave them a standing ovation for Black Moon. This had not happened at the three previous shows I attended. Keith's solo's were great as usual. Though not especially scorching. (I was beginning to wonder how long it would take Keith and Carl to get hot. They had been ripping the night before.) When Greg played From the Beginning he lengthened the solo at the beginning - before playing the harmonic riff that starts the tune on the album. He switched guitars for Still . . . (because of the different tuning) and played a few bars of I don't know what, then stopped to introduce the song. Carl and Keith were on stage and in place before he finished. Carl asked the crowd to give Greg a hand. Then they played Lucky Man, and Keith and Carl got hot! The night before Keith had stretched the synth solo at the end, and Greg had looked pissed. (Maybe he just wasn't feeling well.) When Keith stretched the solo again Greg was into it. This also got a standing ovation. Romeo & Juliette was really good. A bit faster, with more active and interesting parts from Greg and Carl. Pirates was amazing. They played it faster than usual. Following the one beat break in the middle they pulled into high gear and improvized wildly. All kinds of extra stuff that built on things they had done the night before. Greg sang very well, and got all of the lyrics right. The audience went crazy at the end. Pictures was beyond awe-inspiring. They were phenomenally tight and daring. In the second Promenade section Keith let Greg take alternate bars a cappella. They had not done this before, but Greg carried on with only mild suprise. Carl's drum solo was different from the night before too. (Indeed, he did a few thing differently every time. Go back and listen to the drum solo on Karn Evil 9 from Welcome Back My Friends. He did NOT play the same solo on this tour.) The night before following the last quiet section - just before the Great Gates - Carl had played a really wild drum part on the toms and synth pad. Greg and Keith both got lost and Keith just held a chord until Carl came back to Earth. At Concord Carl again played the wild drum part, but Greg had a cool bass line to go with it, and Keith laid in some big expanded-voice chords. The audience was transported en masse to a parallel universe where music is a sentient life form. When ELP finished, the crowd lept to its feet applauding and howling as though they had just seen the best concert performance ever. They may have. NOTES: The Universal Amphitheater is NOT outdoors. It is a very nice venue though. A word of caution, do not accept seats in sections 1 or 9, as you will not be able to see the stage. If you get lousy seats, grab an usher and DEMAND to be reseated. They'll find better seats for you. When going to the CALExpo Amphitheater, get general admission tickets and go early. The reserved seats are all in the back. Weird, but a nice place to see a show. Greg's black bass is a "Wal". It's midi-ed to I'm not sure what. His big blonde accoustic guitar is a Gibson "Greg Lake" model. It looks like a Hummingbird. Also, at some shows he played "Still . ." in a standard tuning. At UCI he used the Martin in the modal-tuning to play "From the Beginning" because the Gibson's electronics broke. No notes for Keith's equipment as some of you have done a better job of that than I could. Carl's drum set was the smallest I've ever seen him use. (Two bass drums, one snare, two mounted toms, one floor tom, four synth pads, two gongs, and cymbals.) Usually he has some bells, a glockenspiel, maybe tympanies, more tom-toms. I think that the synth pads covered all of that extra stuff. Still turned on! - Mark ------------------------------ End of ELP Digest [Volume 2 Issue 20] *************************************